Lesson Information Form

Lesson # (1/3): Date of lesson: ___11/16/2020____

Objectives:
 Review composition topics covered in class this semester
 Students will analyze the structure of “Skip to my Lou”
 Students will assist in writing a countermelody for “Skip to my Lou”
 Students will decide the key of their composition
 Students will fill out transposition worksheet

Students will demonstrate their ability to:

 Understand the notes that comprise I and V chords
 Understand ABA compositional form
 Differentiate between a melody, countermelody, and bass line
 Transpose notes in concert pitch to their respective instruments

Teaching Plan:
 Have students sit with their group members (socially distanced)
o Groups are labelled on the handout on their seats
 Review (On handout/worksheet) (A, informal)
o Tonic and Dominant Chords
 Ask students to define what scale degrees form a I chord (Tonic) and a V
chord (Dominant)
o ABA form
 Ask students to define ABA form and elaborate on the function of the B
section.
o Melody, Countermelody, and bass
 Ask each group of students to take a minute or two to define what is the
function of their part
 Ask for questions!
 Analyze Skip to My Lou (Included in their packet handout) (A, informal)
o What is the key of this piece? (F Major)
o Write out notes of the F major scale (at top)
o Write out the notes of a Tonic chord and a dominant chord
o Ask students what chord is in measure 1
 If needed, give reminder that the bass notes “usually” tell us the chord
name AND pieces usually start with a tonic chord.
o Continue on labeling the chord structure for the whole piece
o Talk about the form of the piece. What’s wrong?
 The B section is too similar to the A sections
o Which group’s part is missing? The countermelody
 Switch to viewing the FLAT composition where I have the Skip to my Lou written
 o Ask students to come up with ideas to fix the B section, making it contrast with
the A section
o Brainstorm ideas for creating a countermelody to Skip to My Lou
 With time left in class, work on the transposition side of worksheet (A, Formal)
o Students will have to pick a key for their composition
o Remind students that this side is due, completed by the start of class 11/17
 Go over the grading rubric (Included in their packet handout)
 Ask for any questions!

Assessments:
 Students will fill out a transposition worksheet (A, Formal)
o The worksheet will be due at the beginning of the next class (Tuesday, 11/17)

Materials:
 Worksheet/handout
 Grading Rubric
 Piano music of “Skip to My Lou”
 Chromebooks
 FLAT Notation (website)

Class Groupings:
 Full Group

Other: Lesson Plan for virtual instruction

 Most of the content for this lesson will be easy to present virtually, however students
will need to print out handout and worksheet, likely a problem

Lesson 1/3 Analysis

The first lesson of our composition project is the most “lecture based” of the three. The first
activity of the lesson was to solidify basic music theory and compositional techniques learned
previously. I had planned extra time at the beginning of the lesson to review, and this was a
great decision. Even though I had prepped the students will all the information needed
beforehand, it became clear that a bit of the information had gotten forgotten. As we were
reviewing, I was frequently asking questions instead of telling and telling. This allowed me to
gauge student comprehension and engagement.

Next, my students learned how to analyze and break down a simple and familiar
composition. I chose to analyze a piano reduction of “Skip to my Lou” because it had the same
chord structure that I had the students use in their work. This activity was mostly guided by me,
while students took notes directly onto the piece of music. An example of student work is
attached in my assessment portfolio. As I was teaching this segment, I frequently checked to
make sure that students were following, and I wasn’t getting too far ahead of them. I think I
could have done a better job of moving around the classroom and interacting the with students
in this segment.

Finally, I had students fill out a transposition worksheet, which I created for the project.
After the students collectively decided on a key for their composition, they were able to fill in
information about chords and notes of the scale. First, the students filled in the concert pitch
notes of the scale along with the notes of tonic and dominant chords. Then, the students
worked on their understanding of transposition by figuring out the scale, tonic chords, and
dominant chords for their instrument key. A transposition chart was added into the worksheet
for extra help. Students were asked to complete this worksheet before the start of the next
lesson. I was then able to check their understanding and answer any lingering questions. An
example of student work is attached in my assessment portfolio.

Unlike the rest of the lesson of my project, this one went mostly as planned. I was able to
keep on track with content covered, and I had enough time to stop and answer questions or
elaborate on information more when I needed to. Knowing how my 8th grade class behaves, I
knew I needed to keep the energy and pacing up in order to keep them interested. This is their
very last class of the day and because of that they have a tendency to act either sleepy or
almost “cranky”. This is always on my mind when I am monitoring the engagement and
progress of these students, especially with the added stress of the eventual COVID shutdown.
My strategy was to ask frequent questions to keep them interested and engaged. While this is
effective, I think I could have explored other options for checking real time retention of the
lecture other than asking questions.

Through my assessment tools, I learned that there a few areas that my students still
struggled with, but most were what I expected. The biggest of these was understanding
transposition and the different between concert and sounding pitch. I plan to spend a little bit
of time at the beginning of lesson 2/3 to go over the worksheet and check their work. If my
students don’t understand which notes they will be writing for each chord, they won’t be
successful when they actually get to composing. This is why I plan to go over it again, check for
any mistakes, and answer any questions.
Lesson # (2/3): Date of lesson: ___11/17/2020____

Objectives:
 Review composition topics covered in class this semester
 Students will finish in writing a countermelody for “Skip to my Lou”, if needed.
 Students will collaborate with group members on their composition

Students will demonstrate their ability to:

 Understand the notes that comprise I and V chords
 Understand ABA compositional form
 Compose a melody, countermelody, or bass line
 Work together as a team to come up with ideas.
 Transpose notes in concert pitch to their respective instruments

Teaching Plan:

 If needed, finish up analyzing Skip to My Lou and finish our original countermelody
 Students get into their groups (and google meet with virtual students)
o First, brainstorm ideas. Encourage them to play their instruments to help with
creativity and inspiration
o Then, start putting down their ideas into the top line of their score (Concert
Pitch)
o I will be going around helping foster ideas, etc.
o Model for them what their compositions sound like (C Trumpet)
 Once all 8 measures are completed, student will work on transposing their part to their
instruments
 I will go around assisting groups and providing comments on the work they have done
(A, informal)
 REMINDER
o A rough draft version of your composition is due WEDNESDAY at 3:00 PM
o The rough draft does not have to be great/perfect but should have all 8
measures completed.
o I will be available all day on Wed. to google meet to chat about questions or
assist if help is needed.
 Encourage students to practice their piece at home on Wednesday!

Assessments: Informal feedback while they work together on their compositions

Materials:
 Worksheet
 Grading Rubric
 Piano sheet music of “Skip to my Lou”
 Chromebooks
  FLAT Notation (website)

Class Groupings:
 Full Group
 Small Groups

Other: Should the lesson be taught virtually

 Students will be assigned to breakout rooms to work on the project
 Expectations will probably adjusted/slackened due to poor internet connection, access
to internet (A common problem in our area)

Lesson 2/3 Analysis

To preface this lesson, I would like to mention that I had to change a lot of my plan due to
changes outside of my control. The night before I taught this lesson, the Ovid-Elsie staff
received word that our school district would be going virtual for three weeks. Since our school
have Wednesdays virtual, that meant that Tuesday Nov. 17 (the day of Lesson 2) would be our
last class in person till Dec. 10. I knew that I had to make some changes to my plan in order to
fully utilize the remaining time to work and help my students in person.

The first thing I had planned was to finish our analysis of Skip to my Lou. I chose this specific
piece because it gave us an opportunity to “fix” the ABA form of the piece, because there is no
B idea. I had planned to have the students come up with ideas to change the B section to make
the form correct. After fixing the B section, I wanted to walk to class through writing a
countermelody for the piece using the FLAT notation software. Once this activity was
completed, I would have had them start composing in their groups.

However, given the new circumstances of this being the “last day of in person school” for
who knows how long, I had to improvise. The day of, I decided to scrap the analysis of Skip to
my Lou, even though I thought it would have been a valuable activity. I figured that I should
give the students as much time as possible to collaborate with each other with the help of my
guidance. Knowing my students and their level of confidence in composing, I trusted my own
judgement in this decision. I ended up having to delay starting the lesson also, which was
unforeseen. Over half of the 8th graders spent 5-10 minutes cleaning out their lockers and
shoving everything for their desks into their backpacks before they came down to band, their
last class of the day. We also had to spend extra time at the end of class to clean and get all
their band lockers cleaned out. Because of these circumstances, I think it was a good decision to
get them working fully on the project itself.

I started the lesson by getting them caught up to speed with how our project would be
changing. The series of lessons was now being cut from 4 lesson to 3, but they would have
more time to work on their composition in the long run. They also needed to know the new
dates and deadlines for their work. Once this was finished, I went around and checked their
homework (Transposition worksheet) and answered any questions they had. Evidence of their
work is included in my assessment portfolio.

From then on, they were free to start collaborating with their peers and putting down ideas
into FLAT. I made sure to remind them that they should work together to come up with ideas
and start simple. My main goal for the lesson was for students to learn how to compose ideas
for their piece and put them into FLAT. This is shown through their rough draft, included in the
assessment portfolio.

While the groups started working, I make my way around offering feedback and checking
progress. After the initial apprehensiveness had subsided, two of the three groups got the ball
rolling and came up with some great ideas. The third group, basses, struggled to communicate
and work together. I had noticed that there wasn’t much collaboration going on. After a quick
conversation, I gathered that they all had ideas and knew what they should be doing, but they
were struggling to work together. I answered this by encouraging them to chat about their
ideas and decide one part that they would all play, and I left them to converse. After a few
minutes, I came back to see if any progress had been made. At this point, a very bright
individual had made an arpeggiating bass line for all of her 8 measures, but the rest of her
group members had only put whole notes for half the measures. Again, I encouraged them to
work together and suggested that Norah share some of her ideas to combine them with the
others. I made a mental note that I would need to spend extra time with this group to help
guide them to the final goal, which was perfectly fine.

By the end of class, all three groups had successfully written an 8 measures rough draft for
their composition. They were allowed to make revision and changes until 3:00 PM Wednesday
11/18 (24 hours), before I graded their composition and provided feedback. This feedback will
be presented to them in the 3rd lesson. Overall, I was pleased that my class was able to get their
8 measures done, and done decently for that matter, under such pressure. I made sure to be
supportive and encouraging, guaranteeing that any mistakes can and will be fixed before the
final draft. I was also happy to see the students get excited over music that they had written
themselves.
Lesson # (3/3): Date of lesson: ___11/19/2020____

Objectives:
 Review composition topics covered in class this semester
 Listen to complete score, and make observations
 Students will collaborate with group members on their composition
 Students will make changes based on the feedback receives

Students will demonstrate their ability to:

 Understand the notes that comprise I and V chords
 Understand ABA compositional form
 Distinguish the melody, countermelody, and bass line of their composition
 Work together to come up with musical ideas.
 Change their compositions based on feedback received through the rubric

Teaching Plan:
 An individual handout will be given to each student (Groups are the same)
o Handout includes the grading rubric and a printed copy of their part
 Have students, in their groups, go over the feedback with each other.
 Listen to the complete score
o What do we hear?
o What is matching up well?
o Is it ever too crowded? Too much going on?
o What do we need to change?
 The remaining time will be used to make edits to their composition (In groups)
o Make sure the changes are applied to all the instruments. Check for typos/errors
 REMINDER
o The final draft of our composition is due at 6:00 PM Sunday
o Encourage students to practice their individual parts

Assessments: Formally given back to them both written and verbally through the rubric and
written comments on their piece.

Materials:
 Feedback Forms (Rubric)
 Printed off PDF of their part with my written comments
 Chromebooks
 FLAT Notation (website)

Class Groupings:
 Full Group
 Small Groups
Other: Should the lesson be taught virtually
 Students will be assigned to breakout rooms to work on the project
 Expectations will probably adjusted/slackened due to poor internet connection, access
to internet (A common problem in our area)

Lesson 3/3 Analysis

My third lesson had to be altered the most because of the switch to virtual instruction. I
originally planned on spreading the project out over the whole week to give us ample time to
make corrections and get the composition as good as possible. Thursday was going to cover
looking at the comments and rubrics for the first draft, a rehearsal of the rough draft, and then
time to make corrections. Friday was going to be a wrap-up where we would have a little time
to go over the corrections that were made, rehearse the final draft, and then have a final
performance.

I had to switch things up based on a new virtual schedule. Now the students only had
our band class on Thursday for 50 minutes, and they wouldn’t have our class on Friday. After
sending out their graded feedback Wednesday afternoon, I decided to go over their feedback
just as I would have in person. With the whole class on google meet, I went through the
feedback group by group. I hope First, I played the midi on FLAT as the whole class listened.
Then, I went over the feedback that I wrote on their rubric and onto the PDF copy of the
composition.

I went through this process with every group, and I made sure to ask for questions.
After, I showed the full score to the students, which I put together the night before, and had
them listen to the midi. Then I pointed out how a few specific comments I gave to each group
effected the composition. It was my hope that by going over the individual parts (melody,
countermelody, and bass) that the groups could still learn from seeing the work of the other
groups.

To finish the lesson, I sent the students into their breakout rooms with their groups to
make changes to their part and go over the feedback they got. I went into each breakout room
a few times to see how things were going and give tips if needed. Most groups seemed to have
a pretty good grasp of the feedback I gave, which was great to see. They knew specific things
that they should fix and how to do it. None of the groups had any major problems, luckily, but
all groups needed to add some finishing touches such as dynamics or style markings. By the end
of the hour, most of the drastic changes had been made. They were told to finish their
composition by Friday at 6:00pm, and from there I graded them and put together the final
score.

What we were missing was the “performance”, and I am sad that my students didn’t get
the opportunity to experience that. I was however able to rehearse some of the parts
individually with some students in private lessons. This was I was still able to work with them on
it and they could feel a better ownership of the part that they wrote.